Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1887-08-13
THE ONLY JUST TITLE TO
PROPERTYISUSEFUl WORK.
Georges Mistaken ldca-The Social.
Democratic Ihe0ry-A Demon
strated Truth-Capitnl tre-
ated by the Majority.
What Law Does
BY DR.. A. DOuAI.

Henry George assures his readers
and followers that he, of all reform
ers, alone bases his ideas and efforts
on principle.
Now, human language under
stands by the term pri0cip1ca funda-
mental truth underlying all other
truths and purposes of system or
party. Such principle must be
self-evident and must need no dem
onstration. Let us see whether he
has discovered such principle.
lie believes to have discovered
that all progress of society rebounds
not to the advantage of human labor
but to the enrichment of the land
lords who are alone benefited by it,
while labor becomes more dependent
and capital less productive.
Has he anywhere demonstrated
that this is 50 in fact? We cannot
find in all his writings any attempt
at demonstrating it. This so-called
principle ought to be self-evidcnt
and to require no proof. We ought
to know it as q truth from all the
facts around us; but we do not find
it there. We see clearly that labor
never gets its full reward, but not
that landlords reap the whole sur
plus of the fruit of labor. We see
that landlords and all other capital
lists divide among themselves that
surplus; we do not witness ss-what
Henry George assumes-that capital
is being exploited together with la
Dor by landlords. His principle is
therefore no self-evident truth.
His practical measure--to right
this wrong--to wit: the contiscatlon
of all the "unearned increment of
land values for the common benefit
by one sole tax on landvalues, can
therefore not be the priacipal relief
of robbed labor. 1t can, if AT all
practicable, relieve only a portion of
the universal wrong committed on
labor
The social democratic theory on
the other hand-at which Henry
George now openly sneers, after long
patting it on the back-has discov-
cred principle, a seIf-eyidont and
demonstrated truth, out of which u
great many other truths follow. 1t
shows that, while all the wealth in
existence (ncIuding exchange value
of land) is produced by labor, and
labor only; lars distribute the sur
plus of the fruit of labor among
those who do no useful work; Laws
do it by allowing all the means Of
labor to be monopolized among a
minority 50 that the dsinherited
majority must, in order to live, sell
their working force to the owners of
means of labor from day to day for
less than it's true value, for no more
than the cost Of the production of
laborers. This isl self-evident truth,
need not be demonstrated, but has
been demonstrated countless times.
1t is almost incredable that
Henry George should just now deny
it. He objects to it 10y the following
sophism Land is not created by
labor labor therefore does not create
all wealth. Aye, we say, land is not
created by men, but the 0'cnership
of land is created by mems laws.
All the value land may have is
created by bad laws in making of
land private property, rendering 1t
thereby artificially scarce and en-
abling those who own it by lawful
title to tax for their private benefit
those who want to use land. All
the surplus value of land is therefore
the creation of labor, unpaid labor.
Whosoever can think and ponders
over this proposition must find it self
evident.
But what is true of land, is like
wise true of all great means of labor.